Fans of Major League Baseball (MLB) are outraged after seeing yet another contentious Hall of Fame ballot. Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) Boston Chapter Chairman Art Davidson cast the vote, and he only chose one candidate: former closer Francisco Rodriguez.
Fans on Twitter once again criticized the method used by MLB to induct its former greats after one vote was cast for a player who was dominating for a brief period of time but hardly “Hall” deserving.
Earlier in his career, Rodriguez was a dominant closer. He played with the Los Angeles Angels for four seasons in the early 2000s, recording 194 saves during that time. In 2002, the team won the World Series. But as soon as he signed with the New York Mets in 2008, his career abruptly came to an end.
He slid significantly off his initial career trajectory, but he continued to be a reliever who was largely efficient until his retirement with the Detroit Tigers in 2017. After reading his ballot, many MLB supporters want to see Davidson’s right to vote removed.
However, as other MLB supporters have noted, it’s not all Davidson’s responsibility. It’s because the MetroWest Daily News reporter, who writes for a publication that covers suburban Boston, didn’t really have somebody outstanding to vote for this time.
To enter the MLB Hall of Fame, you need 75 percent of the vote
One obvious superstar, Alex Rodriguez, is included on the 2023 MLB Hall of Fame ballot. With 696 career home runs, “A-Rod” would undoubtedly deserve to be immortalized. Rodriguez, like other famous people of his generation, has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs at some point in his career.
Thus he continues to be on the outside looking in. A few others who are in the same situation include Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, and Barry Bonds.
According to the rules for Hall of Fame induction: “No more than 10 eligible players may be nominated by qualified BBWAA members each voting cycle as candidates for Hall of Fame admission.
A player must appear on at least 75% of the ballots cast in order to be inducted. Players are currently dropped from the ballot if their names appear on less than 5% of ballots or if they have appeared 10 times without winning.”
Players no longer eligible to be enshrined by the BBWAA ballot can be enshrined by a passing vote of the Hall of Fame “Eras Committee.”
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